The Dan Wiebold Ford Battle of the Brands event over
Memorial weekend attracted an impressive turnout of competitors racing
in fourteen different categories. After two straight days of wet
weather, Sunday started out dry until the final beat of the National
Anthem (around 1:30 pm) when the skies opened up and rain showers soaked
the raceway not once but three separate times. After multiple attempts
to dry the track, the Firebird crew was finally able to start
eliminations shortly before 4:30 pm after sunshine returned to the
raceway.

By 8:30 pm, eliminations were concluded, which featured quite an
assortment of event champions. Highlights included Mark Kidd winning his
third straight Pro eliminator plaque with his 9-second `55 Chevy. Gordon
Boven earned his third title of the season in his fourth final round
appearance, which moves him into a decisive position in the NHRA Land of
the Leaders Challenge after winning the first two (of four) Firebird
races in the Division 6 Series. In addition, Rex Petersen is also riding
quite the hot streak, collecting his second consecutive Sportsman
victory in back-to-back weeks of racing.

In addition to the fifth stop in the Boise Muffler point’s series, the
specialty event featured the 25th edition of the Chevy versus Ford
showdown better known as the Battle of the Brands. Just before
nightfall, Ford earned top honors this year as Steve Pyburn put together
the best final round package in Pro Ford to earn the Ford brand bragging
rights for the next year.